Insights Into Aesthetic Next With Katie Martin, PA-C

“What really stood out to me was the inclusiveness. There was something there for everyone,” said Katie Martin, PA-C, regarding the Aesthetic Next conference in Dallas, Texas, held September 7-10, 2023. Martin, a board-certified physician assistant, advanced injector, and the vice president of clinical operations at Holden Timeless Beauty in San Marcos, California, spoke to Dermatology Times to review highlights from her sessions and the key takeaways from the conference.

Martin’s first session, “Creating, Building, and Maintaining a Top in Class Practice Culture” covered advice for hiring the best candidate for your practice and how to create a positive working culture. Later, Martin discussed the benefits of new products from Galderma, Alastin, and RVL Pharmaceuticals and how to provide the best results for patients.

Transcript

Katie Martin, PA-C: Hi, my name is Katie Martin, I am a physician assistant and VP of clinical operations and also an advanced injector at Holden Timeless Beauty in Southern California.

Dermatology Times: Can you please explain the 3-step interview process mentioned in your session, "Creating, Building, and Managing a Top in Class Practice Culture?"

Martin: We're very proud of our 3-part interview process. And maybe I should call it a 4-part interview process. But first, starting out with having a true culture in the practice is so important. Company culture starts with a mission, vision, and value statement. A mission is the why: why your company exists. The vision is where you want to go. And your values are how you're going to get there. All of these: mission, vision, and values are very important, but the core values actually stand out the most. In every job ad listing that we post, we put the mission, vision, and values of our company in there, so that anybody even trying to apply or wanting to apply knows where our mission, vision, and values are. The first step is our 15-minute kind of getting-to-know-you interview. And that's done by phone and done by the most immediate manager. My top question that I always ask everyone immediately is, "What do you know about our company? And why do you think you'd be a good fit?" And that's been the most telling because I get everything from: "I know nothing about your company, please tell me about it", to "I've been following you guys for years. I love what you're doing in the community, and I want to be a part of it." So that's my number one question.

My second question is very open-ended. I say, "I have [your] resume in front of me. But would you mind telling me about yourself and your experience?" I also like that question. Just let them talk. Hear about how they talk about past opportunities and their past positions. And my third question is asking about their 1-, 3-, and 5-year goals in the industry. Because believe it or not, I've heard things like, "Well, I just want some experience so I can open up my own practice." And although that's a great ambition to have, it might not just align with what we're looking for at our office. So that's the first step of our 3-part interview. Second step, which actually was the third step, and now it's the second because we've deemed it so important is our core values interview. And this is done virtually, with selected members of the leadership team. I send the core values of our company in advance and give just a very open-ended, "Please give us an informal presentation on what they mean to you and how you embody them." So we've [had] everything from full-on PowerPoint presentations to very ill-prepared, but it's also a great way to find out about a person. We give that candidate an opportunity to ask questions, and then the leadership [team] asks questions of them. So that's our core values interview. If we decide that we want to move forward, then we offer an in-person interview. That one is done at our office where they get a tour of the facility, meet certain members of the team, and we sometimes do skills tests, especially maybe for experienced providers or people who are looking to come on as admin. But for experienced providers, I will show them photos of models, and I will ask them, maybe what treatments they would recommend how they would treat that person, and how they would consult them. And for admin, possibly a front desk lead or administrative, we might do a phone call roleplay with them. So that is our 3-step interview process.

Dermatology Times: What products did you highlight during your session, "Elevating Your Approach to Aesthetics for the Face and Eyes?"

Martin: I am lucky enough to be a KOL for not only Galderma, but Alastin and Upneeq, and I was so honored to represent all 3 of them at Aesthetic Next. In the Galderma session, we had amazing colleagues with me who were actually doing live injections, and I was able to talk with my fellow panelists about our approach to those areas and just talk through injecting and consultation techniques. I'm so proud of Galderma because they have really taken it upon themselves to encompass what they call HITs or holistic individualized treatments. Meaning instead of just focusing on certain areas or people coming in just for lips or just for cheeks, we as medical providers and skilled artists need to think about the face and the body as a whole. We need to really think about facial balancing and how things will look in comparison to other areas of the face. So that's part of the HITs. As for Alastin, I was honored to talk about the products that are backed by science from Alastin. Their big new player in this vitamin C category is the C Radical Defense with its proprietary sodium ascorbate, which is actually elastin-preserving as well as collagen-inducing. It's an amazing new product for brightening fine lines with 100% patient satisfaction. We got to talk about how to incorporate not only holistic treatments for injectables, but also to incorporate the skin on top and how important talking to our patients is about that.

One of the things that I truly believe and I practice every day is that we're doing our patients a disservice if we are not recommending everything that they would benefit from. I talk about skin care with most if not all of my patients. Because I always say that I can do a lot with toxins, fillers, and biostimulators. But if the sheet on top doesn't look its best then my work doesn't look its best, and it's a win-win if we get the best results. So that was Gaining Alastin. I was also very honored to represent Upneeq, and Upneeq is very unique in its space because there's nothing else like it on the market. And we as practitioners, I think sometimes forget about the eyes, and how important it is. And we always say the eyes are the window to the soul. But that's the first place that people look at you. We really need to take into account how the eyes look in the holistic approach to the face. And we all know that Disney Princesses are portrayed with big, beautiful, open eyes, and villains have small, small eyes. So Upneeq gives us a way to lift that upper lid to give a little bit more show. And it just gives a beautiful complement to everything else that we do in our office. The beauty of Upneeq too is that it's completely safe, and there are no contraindications. It works within about an hour or even less sometimes; it lasts 8 hours so you can choose when to use it and not use it.

Dermatology Times: What were some of your favorite aspects of Aesthetic Next? What would you want clinicians to know that were unable to attend?

Martin: Aesthetic Next impressed me very, very much. I think it was this culmination of so many of the best talents in the industry coming together. But I think what really stood out to me was the inclusiveness. There was something for everybody there and it was from the newest of the new injectors learning the basics to very advanced injector techniques and things for them too. And everything in between too. I spoke in the business track which I was very impressed with. And it was just very inclusive, which is sometimes hard to find at shows in the aesthetic industry.

[Transcript edited for clarity]